Breaking News: Mojo Rising

Rumours started to swirl late last night that Assplosion GM Brad Hunt had acquired a talented young running back. Several names were swirling around, including Cadillac Williams, Willis McGahee, Chester Taylor and Laurence Maroney. While these rumours turned out to be false, Hunt did secure the services of a young running back, confirmed this morning in a quick press release:

"The Assplosion organization has in fact acquired the services of Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew from the Faulkens organization in exchange for our 2nd pick (8th overall) in the 2007 expansion draft. We cannot comment further at this time."

Jones-Drew was a second round pick of the Jaguars last year. Despite spending most of the season as the second back on the depth chart, Jones-Drew still managed to rush for 941 yards on 166 attempts for 13 TDs. Jones-Drew was also a factor in the passing game, catching 46 receptions for 436 yards and 2 TDs. He also spent time on special teams, returning kick-offs for 860 yards and a TD.

Jones-Drew's role with the Jaguars is expected to increase even more next season and he could become the number one running back if the club decides to let Fred Taylor go in the offseason.

Assplosion Welcomes 2 New Members

After another day of wheeling and dealing, Assplosion was able to secure the services of two more players. The major acquisition of the day was Lee Evans, WR for the Buffalo Bills. Evans had an excellent season in Buffalo, catching 82 balls for 1290 yards and 8 TDs. The third year pro was a first round pick of the Bills and has continued to improve each year as pro.

"We're very excited to bring Lee Evans aboard. He's an explosive receiver that turned the corner last year and became Buffalo's go to guy. We believe that he can continue to grow in their system now that he is starting to get comfortable with J.P. Losman. We believe we've solidified our receiver position for the next several years with this trade." Assplosion GM Brad Hunt stated during the press conference.

Evans was acquired from the Hawks team in exchange for the 9th pick in the expansion draft. "This was a no-brainer. Evans is a top 10 wideout, probably the best receiver still on the market. To get him with our third round pick is a steal."

Also acquired via trade was QB Jason Campbell of the Washington Redskins. Campbell, a second year pro and former first round draft pick, threw for 1297 yards and 10 TDs in 7 games, after starting the year behind Mark Brunell. He will go into next season as Washington's starter and most football experts believe he played much better than his numbers suggested.

"Jason has been a highly regarded prospect for a couple of years now. He showed last year that he is capable of being a good NFL quarterback and we're excited to think about the potential he has in that offense." The Redskins offense, led by renowned co-ordinator Al Saunders, struggled initially last season, but showed signs of life near the end of the season. It is believed that with Santana Moss, Antwan Randle-El, Chris Cooley and Clinton Portis, Campbell should have plenty of weapons to use next season.

Campbell was acquired with the 25th pick in the expansion draft. "We liked this trade because we think Campbell should be a serviceable enough QB to get us through next year and he's young enough that if he turns his potential into production, he could be a long term answer for the franchise at the position."

After two days of trading, the Assplosion roster now consists of:

QB - Jason Campbell
RB - Ronnie Brown
WR - Lee Evans

GM Brad Hunt stated that his next goal is to secure the services of another starting running back. He didn't want to go into specifics, but he said that he has been in negotiations with at least two or three young starting running backs that he would love to get his hands on.

Dawning of a New Era

I am pleased to introduce to you the very first player for the Assplosion fantasy football team as he joins the AWFFL: Ronnie Brown.

Brown, a running back for the Miami Dolphins, was the 2nd overall pick in 2005 and rushed for 1008 yards while scoring 5 TDs in 2006. He also had 33 catches for 276 yards.

Acquired in a trade that saw me sending the first and 24th overall picks in the expansion draft to another owner for Brown and the 66th pick in the draft, Brown is set to become the face of the upstart organization.

"We are elated to announce the acquistion of Ronnie Brown to our organization." club GM Brad Hunt stated during the press conference. "Brown is a very special talent that we believe is going to turn the corner next year and become a top 5 running back."

"The goal of the organization was to acquire a bona fide number one running back and we believe we not only met, but exceeded expectations. We had Brown ranked as number 5 on our list of guys to have in a keeper league, behind LT2, LJ, Shaun Alexander and Reggie Bush. The fact that we were able to acquire him for expansion draft picks feels like a steal."

Brown struggled last year, his first as a premiere back in the league. The Dolphins offence struggled under Daunte Culpepper last year and then went through more changes with the switch to Joey Harrington. Brown then broke his hand and missed a few weeks down the stretch, but was still able to reach the 1000 yard mark during the last week of the season.

"We're a bit concerned to see Brown struggle a bit last year, but we believe there were some other factors at play that caused those struggles. The potential is definitely there for Brown to be a league leader in rushing in the next few years and he is also a factor in the passing game. Combine this with the fact that he is still very young, and we are very confident Brown can lead our team to success, as early as this season."

Also during the press conference, Hunt mentioned that he is not done wheeling and dealing and hopes to land a young WR and steady veteran QB presence as he continues to round out his roster.

Look At Me! I'm Tomokazu Ohka of the Toronto Blue Jays!

The Blue Jays just signed starting pitcher Tomo Ohka, which is a decent pick-up. There are alot of things Tomo Ohka isn't: he's not a tremendous pitcher, he doesn't strike people out much, and he is definitely not a guy that's going to save your rotation. But he should help the Blue Jays.

The Jays should have enough bats in the line-up to compete offensively with any team in baseball next season, including the Yankees. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for the rotation. Roy Halladay is a bona fide ace and the exact kind of pitcher you can build a rotation around and A.J. Burnett, if he stays healthy, is as good as any number 2 pitcher in the American League. However, the drop off after that is rough.

Gustavo Chacin will likely be back again next year. He was serviceable last year, but if you look past the wins and okay ERA, his other numbers give some cause for concern. I think what we saw his rookie year is going to be his best season and I wouldn't want him as anything other than a 4th/5th pitcher.

The Jays are also bringing in John Thomson on the cheap, a signing I really like. Thomson has always been a decent pitcher, a number 3 type early in his career and now probably a 4th/5th pitcher. The major problem with him is injury troubles, but the Jays have signed him cheap enough that the injury risk is worth the potential upside if he stays healthy.

I haven't heard the terms of the Ohka deal, but if it comes in at a couple million for the year, I'd have no problem with it. Ohka's not a guy you want on the mound in a must win situation, but he should provide the Jays with some quality innings. With the offence behind him, he can still be a decent 5th man in the rotation even if he does end up with an era in the low fives.

Anything to keep Casey Janssen and Shawn Marcum out of the big league rotation. I think Marcum could still be a useable major league pitcher with a bit more time in the minors, but after a nice starting stretch, I really didn't see a whole lot I liked in Casey Janssen next year. I'm sure glad the Jays signed Ohka and Thomson (the two pitchers I was kinda hoping they'd sign after the market for Gil Meche skyrocketed to absurdity). These are good, cheap signings and both pitchers should prove valuable during the season. It shouldn't be enough to catch the Yankees, but it was also probably the best they could do with what was available on the free agent market.

I'm still holding out hope that the Jays can move Alex Rios for a #3 starter. With Adam Lind raking the ball in the minors last year and during his brief cup of coffee in the majors last year, Rios should be considered expendable.

Bill Belicheck's One Mistake

What is with everyone cheering for the Colts? Seriously?!?!?! I don't like the Colts and I never have. I don't like Peyton Manning. I thought nobody did. Apparently everyone does and they want to see him win a Super Bowl. I sure don't. I hope Peyton Manning never wins the Super Bowl. Peyton Manning winning the Super Bowl would result in three times as many Peyton Manning commercials, as the guy clearly has either a love of himself or a love of money and simply cannot say no to an endorsement deal. Personally, I think Peyton Manning is in love with himself, but that's just my opinion of him as a person and has no bearing on what he does on the field.

I also want to know why everyone is so down on the Patriots this year. This escapes me for several reasons. If you listen to your average sports fan opine about what is wrong with professional sports nowadays, they will likely go on and on about how athletes are a bunch of spoiled, selfish, overpaid, underachievers. Let's see...spoiled, overpaid, underachiever....sound alot like a certain Manning I know.

Now lets look at the New England Patriots organization. This year's team was something like $13 million under the NFL salary cap. (The Colts started Spring Training OVER the salary cap) The Patriots had one first round pick in their starting line-up. They had only one pro bowl player (DE Richard Seymour). Yet this team still made it to the semi-finals in the better conference of the two in the league. This is hardly a team of overpaid underachievers. This is a team that played with a lot of heart and determination to perform well as a team, the sum being much, much better than any individual part.

Selfish? Tom Brady took much less than market value to resign with the team so that the team would have the financial flexibility to remain well under the cap and retain other talented players. This is a guy that refused to do VISA commercials unless his offensive linemen were involved. Peyton Manning? He did cellphone commercials talking about how awesome and handsome he is.

This is an organization that refused to pay players like David Givens, Adam Vinatieri, Willie McGinest and Deion Branch more than what the team believed they were worth, even though they easily had the cap space to sign these players at their asking rate.

The Patriots would seem to embody everything that your average sports fan claims sports should be about. Yet most seem to have abandoned them for the flavour of the month Colts. The next time someone complains to me about how so-and-so is overpaid and sucks, I'll simply tell him he should've been cheering for the Pats in '06.

So, how do the New England Patriots consistently finish atop the standings and win Super Bowls? Two words: Bill Belicheck.

Bill Belicheck is a genius. He is a football coaching savant. Bill Belicheck has consistently coached teams with less skill to big playoff victories over much more skilled teams. He constantly creates creative and effective game plans to overcome the usual skill difference. His players are well coached and play with all sorts of heart, grit determination and, most importantly, intelligence. How did the Pats beat the Chargers in a game the Chargers dominated? New England kept plugging away and never gave up, while San Diego players made some of the stupidest mistakes (a headbutt to give New England a first down, getting stripped while attempting to return a pick for a TD instead of kneeling and letting the offence run out the clock.) Belicheck's teams rarely, if ever, make these fundamental and completely inexcuseable mistakes. If they do, these players aren't Patriots for much longer.

Bill Belicheck is also likely a Jedi Knight. Did anyone else notice that when Laurence Maroney fumbled near the goal line early in that game, the ball somehow rolled out from under a pile of seven Colts players right to the spot where two New England O-linemen were standing so they could recover it. That can only be explained by Belicheck's manipulation of the force.

The question I know that's on your mind is: If Bill Belicheck is a genius Jedi Knight, how come they Patriots lost to the Colts on Sunday, despite leading 21-3 at halftime?

The answer is pretty simple: Bill Belicheck made a mistake. It was an honest mistake, but a mistake nonetheless. See, Bill Belicheck has come to the same conclusion Oakland A's GM Billy Beane (another hero of mine) has reached: quite often, certain players are easily replaceable.

Belicheck refused to sign Adam Vinatieri for the kind of money Vinatieri was asking for. Vinatieri is somewhat of a folk hero in Boston, kicking several Super Bowl winning field goals. Because of this, he has the reputation of being a "clutch" kicker. As I write for this blog, you'll start to see that I place no value in this idea of "clutch." I'll say that Adam Vinatieri is a great place kicker. His reputation as a clutch kicker is merely a by-product of the fact he made some field goals at the end of championship games. If Lawrence Tynes had played for the Patriots, Lawrence Tynes would be currently be considered one of the great clutch kickers in NFL history. However, Bill Belicheck correctly realized that place kickers are about as fungible as a reliever in baseball (you can turn any decent reliever into an overpaid closer simply by putting him out there in the 9th instead of the 7th inning). You can usually find a serviceable replacement in your local bargain bin or even the scrap heap. Letting Vinatieri walk was the most logical decision for Belicheck, as committing the kind of money Vinatieri was seeking to a kicker would surely create salary cap problems down the line. Instead he brought in Steven Gostkowski, who ended up being just as good a kicker as Vinatieri.

However, I think Belicheck misjudged how valuable a receiver that can catch is to a football team. In the offseason, star wide receiver Deion Branch was seeking a payraise and was prepared to sit out the season to get it. Instead of paying him more than the organization thought he was worth (despite loads of cap space), Branch was traded to the Seahawks for a draft pick. This would have been fine had the Patriots had some decent young receivers on the roster. Instead they had Reche Caldwell. The Pats struggled the entire season to find some wide receivers to mesh with Tom Brady. Chad Jackson...nope. Doug Gabriel...nope. The team finally settled on Reche Caldwell and Jabbar Gaffney (released from the woeful Texans.)

If you look at Tom Brady's numbers this year, they do not approach last year's. It's obvious the problem is his new receiving corps. The last few years, Pats receivers have been steady, sure handed receivers that weren't very flashy. This year's receivers were more of the speedy and athletic but not so sure handed mold. This doesn't fit Tom Brady's passing style, which relies on short, precise routes from his receivers so that he can hit them with quick, accurate throws. It's no wonder they never seemed to mesh throughout the year.

But never was it more costly than in the playoffs. The game against the Colts was decided by less than a TD. Reche Caldwell dropped 2 key passes that in all likelihood, cost the Pats the game. One was a sure TD when Caldwell was wide open in the endzone. It was perfectly thrown and Caldwell simply dropped it. Another was when Caldwell was left completely uncovered on one side of the field, all by himself before the snap. Brady noticed this, threw him the ball and had Caldwell caught that and outran the safety, would've scored. Instead he dropped the ball and the Pats lose by 4.

Caldwell was the number one receiver and you have to think that if it were the sure handed Deion Branch lining up in Caldwell's spot, the Pats score two more TDs.

NHL All Star Game Thoughts

- Honestly, does anyone actually care about this thing?

- I thought it was funny how guys like Don Cherry and some of the older foggies were complaining about the Vote for Rory campaign. Rory Fitzpatrick embodies pretty much everything these old school types preach in a player (lots of grit, determination and heart, a never give up attitude despite bouncing around the minors, minimal skill, etc.) Shouldn't guys like Don Cherry be jumping on this bandwagon to try and get one of his "boys" in the All Star game. I wonder if he'd be whistling a different tune had Jay McKee been the one backed with all the support? (McKee's a "good ol' Kingston boy")

- Perhaps the worst argument I heard against Fitzpatrick going to the All Star Game was the fact that he'd have to look across the dressing room at Mattias Ohlund, who wouldn't be going to the All Star game because Fitzpatrick might take his spot. A few things here:

1.) Ohlund would then have to look across the dressing room at Kevin Bieksa, who wouldn't be going to the All Star game because Ohlund would be filling his spot. Bieksa's been the best d-man in Vancouver this year.

2.) Does Mattias Ohlund really care that much about going to the All Star game?

3.) Does any player really care that much about going to the All Star game.

- The fact that Martin Brodeur wasn't voted the starting goalie in the East is more proof that the current selection system is a joke than Fitzpatrick's near miss was. Brodeur is one of the greatest goalies in the history of the game, currently having perhaps his best season yet. Can you imagine Mario Lemiuex not being named an All Star starter during his peak year? That's why you either don't let fans vote, or else don't complain when they make their inevitable mistakes. See Gerrard, Steven and the UEFA All Star team. :)

- Even more unfathomable is the fact that Dominik Hasek wasn't selected. At least it was the fans that screwed up the Brodeur selection. This one was botched by the NHL.

- Eric Staal over Rod Brind' Amour? I realize Staal is the younger and more marketable choice, but Brind' Amour has been the much better player playing the same position on the same team. Staal's selection also meant the very deserving Marc Savard and/or Thomas Vanek miss out, as well.

Here's what my selections would've been:

Eastern Conference

G Martin Brodeur

D Dan Boyle (great PP QB, developing solid defensive game)

D Brian McCabe (no clear choice, gets nod over Souray since he's not a complete defensive liability)

LW Alexander Ovechkin

RW Dany Heatley

C Sidney Crosby

Western Conference

G Miika Kipprusoff (look at his save %)

D Nicklas Lidstrom

D Chris Pronger

LW Henrik Zetterberg (only because I'm picking LW, would otherwise put Iginla here)

RW Teemu Selanne

C Joe Thornton

The one thing I noticed is that the East is loaded with offensive players but has few defensive options, while the West is loaded with defenders but lacks the talented forwards.

The Baseball Hall of Fame

The Baseball Hall of Fame recently announced its newest inductees, Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn. There is no doubt that both of these guys deserve to be in the Hall, although Gwynn is not as slam dunk as some people might think. However, like every year, there was some controversy.

The Baseball Writers Association of America is given the responsibility of electing new Hall of Fame members each year. Unfortunately several voting members decide this is the time of the year to climb atop their high horse and try to make some sort of irrelevant point about something, which results in them casting a vote that is not in the spirit of how the voting process was intended.

Unfortunately several writers decided to leave Cal Ripken Jr. off of their ballot. Not a single writer that did so explained the decision by stating Cal Ripken wasn't good enough. The most popular justification given was that they wanted to ensure Ripken was not a unanimous decision, collecting 100% of the vote. They argue that since not one player in the history of the Hall of Fame has received 100% of the vote, than neither should Ripken. Does anybody other than me find alot of faulty logic in this reasoning?

The fact that Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, etc. weren't unanimously chosen for their spots in the Hall should not be grounds for preventing the same thing happening with Cal Ripken. Instead, we should be questioning the motives of the writers that left Mays or Aaron off their ballots. How in your right mind can you logically say that Wille Mays shouldn't be in the Hall of Fame? By not voting for him, that is the statement you make. Is it not entirely possible that some racist sports writer left Mays or Aaron off their ballot for the sole reason that they were black? Is it not possible that someone had a beef with one of these guys and left them off the ballot out of spite?

Now, Cal Ripken is no Wille Mays or Hank Aaron. He wasn't even the best player of his era. But he was a definite Hall of Famer and anybody that fails to recognize that should clearly not be a member of a baseball writers association.

The other thing this brings up, in my mind, is how you can not vote for a player one year, but then decide to vote for him the following year (or vice versa). The way the ballot works is that each writer is given a list of players and they can decide to vote for as many as possible. They're not choosing BETWEEN Ripken or Gwynn....they basically say yes or no to each player individually based on their merits. If you receive X percentage of the vote you're in, if not you try again next time until your name is eventually removed from the ballot.

So what makes a player not worthy of the Hall of Fame one year and then all of a sudden worthy the next year? The player hasn't played any more games to change your opinion of his abilities. Anything he has done outside of baseball shouldn't be taken into account. It's simply that the baseball writers have decided to each make up their own rules, which are often devoid of any sort of credible logic.

The other big thing was that Mark McGwire received votes on only 25% of the ballot. This is obviously due to the steriod allegations. Now, is Mark McGwire a clear-cut Hall of Famer? Not in my opinion....I think if you look solely at his numbers and how he played over the course of his career he is one of those guys that's right on the fence. He hit for a lot of power at times, but he also had some bad seasons in between. Personally, I'd probably vote him in based on his incredible peak years, though an argument could be made that he lacked the overall consistency to be a true Hall of Famer.

So what do you do about the steroid allegations?? How do they affect him? They don't. For beginners, at this point all we have are rumours and speculation that McGwire took steroids. He has never admitted to their use and has never been found guilty by any sort of investigative committee. And, if I recall correctly, in the United States (and Canada) you are innocent until proven guilty.

Secondly, and perhaps most importantly is the fact that taking steroids during McGwire's playing days did not break a single rule in the Major League Baseball rule book. Now, whether there should have been a rule against taking steroids can be up for debate and in my opinion should be. But can McGwire be blamed for trying to improve his abilities within the rules of the game? I don't think so. We can disagree all we want with his decisions based on the morals and ethics of the entire situation, but this should not have any impact on how we measure his abilities to the greatest of all time.

Online and Ready to Rock

Okay, I finally caved in and started my THIRD! blog. Some of you skeptics and pessimists may say "Well I never....that simply IS too many blogs." But I don't care. I enjoy writing my thoughts and such for all to see (I was the only person in our Technical Communications class that put up his hand when the prof asked if anyone enjoys writing). The fact that I have three blogs is so that I can try and keep some sort of focus on my other blog. So I have the regular blog for most of my thoughts, the poker blog for everything poker related, and now this blog for all thing sports. The added benefit is that for all the readers of my regular blog, they won't be bored down with my random posts on sports anymore. It shall all be here.

So what's my goal with this blog? Well, it's of my opinion that at least 80% of all sportswriters these days are hacks. Very rarely is an original thought conveyed and even rarer yet is when the both logically and critically use information to support their ideas. The sports world is full of over-sentimental, high horse riding softies (think Rick Reilly in SI) or illogical, ignorant and incoherent ranters and ravers (think Jim Rome).

As a quick background as to my sports tastes:

My favorite sports (and thus most discussed in this space) are hockey, baseball, curling (probably won't discuss much here, though) and football. Scott Billeck has got me watching a little bit of soccer, but I know hardly anything about it (other than that Yakubu is the best!). I can't stand watching basketball and golf (though I don't mind playing both) and I loathe NASCAR, along with almost all other forms of auto racing. I also don't like slamball, but I think they quit doing that after everyone blew out their knees.

Now, here are my favorites (and least favorites) so you will know where my biases may lie:

Hockey - I no longer have a favorite team after the Boston Bruins traded Joe Thornton for a used jock strap and some chalk. I now know what it's like to have your heart crushed. I still haven't forgiven them, and at this point, I don't know if I ever can. But I do know this: I loathe the Montreal Canadiens and I'm not a big fan of the Ottawa Senators. Yes, I'd MUCH rather cheer for the Maple Leafs than either of these teams. I'm also not a fan of the New York Rangers, Colorado Avalanche or the Dallas Stars. My favorite players throughout the years have been Ray Bourque, Cam Neely, Teemu Selanne, Joe Thornton, and Steve Smith.

Baseball - I'm a die-hard Blue Jays fan. I live and breathe them during the summer months. If I ever lived in Toronto, I'd have season tickets. I remember the back to back World Series' like it was yesterday. My favorite Jays have been George Bell, Joe Carter, Rance Mulliniks, Frank Catalanatto, and Roy Halladay. As for other teams....I don't mind the Oakland Athletics but I hate the Yankees. And Mets. And you might as well include the Braves. Oh..and when I was growing up I was also a fan of Ryne Sandberg and Cal Ripken Jr.

Football - I'm a Vikings fan. Have been for as long as I watched football. I'm also a closet Chargers fan and have been since the Junior Seau years. Fortunately, the last few years the Chargers have been good. But I don't want to come out for fear of being labelled a bandwagon jumper.