NFL 2009 Thoughts

Go see it for yourself: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/238752-my-commentspredictions-for-the-upcoming-nfl-season

Some hidden storylines

I just wrote this article for BleacherReport.com about a few stories that are not really being covered by the media. Take a look: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/223113-baltimore-storylines-few-are-talking-about

Suggs Will Gain Even More Respect

All this crazy stuff going on in RavensLand the last week! I choose not to fully comment on Mason's retirement because it seems so bizarre. I don't have any idea his intentions (or lack thereof) for announcing it so quickly, but I obviously hope that he will change his mind. If he does, I am going to go on record as calling him Brett for the rest of the season. Mark my words!!!

But what I find interesting is Suggs new deal. It seemed obvious that the amount would be somewhere in the ballpark of where it eventually landed. Terrell was looking for Dwight Freeney money, and that's what he got. I was opposed to such a huge contract at first, but I have come to accept it for two reasons.

1. Suggs has been completely reliable for us. He has never missed a game in his career. His skills at outside linebacker are as wide and talented as there is in the league. Where I once wondered about his pass-rushing ability, I am now content that he is not a pure defensive end. His repertoire is extraordinary, and we are a perfect team to utilize it. Plus, his performance last year, even when clearly injured, was completely impressive. His play on the field warrants a large contract, and no longer can I deny that.

2. Suggs pretty much fits the mold for a Ravens defender. No matter what people say about our defense's success, it has always boiled down to the personnel. We continue to be a top defense because we have some of the best players. Coordinators come and go, players come and go, head coaches come and go. But whenever those things change, our players are still always top notch, hence the success. Well Suggs is another example of Baltimore continuing that tradition. The history of Ravens' first round picks has been clear. We keep the guys that are worth building a team around. We kept Ray, we kept Reed, we kept McAllister. All of those guys received huge deals after their rookie contracts and became the building blocks to great defenses. Look at the people we let go: Starks, Baxter, Sharper, Hartwell. All of those guys were great position players, but none of them were worth spending big money on. And we were proven right in that situation, with most of them receieving big money from other teams only to be considered flops. So what I am saying is that we give our great first-round picks big contracts and use them as the rocks of defense. With those guys in place, we find great position players who will do their role and be reliable. We are saying to Suggs that he will be one of the 3 most important players on our team for six years. That is something that I can certainly feel comfortable about because of Suggs' presence as well as our previous success in big contracts. Besides, big, long contracts always seem to look good 3 years down the road when 15 other contracts have already been signed that are longer and bigger than that.

Get ready to see Suggs on every List of Top Defenders in the League now, however. Though he is already known as a very good player, he was never listed as a top 15 or top 30 defender. The players that receive big contracts somehow always end up on these lists the year after. I don't know why that is exactly, but maybe it's just because of the attention that the player gets because of the big numbers. Either way, watch out for Suggs name everywhere this year, whether his lay warrants it or not.

One more note. This contract frees up a lot more cap room for the Ravens. Let's see them continue signing first rounders big money by laying a huge contract in front of Haloti Ngata's agent sometime this offseason. If you are talking building blocks of a defense, I don't know if there is a better candidate than the multi-talented beast known as Haloti.

Incredible Stuff

The last two Wimbledon finals have truly been classic matches. While both involved Roger Federer and both went 5 sets, they could not have been different. What made last year's final so great was its sheer emotion. The ups and downs of the match were overly-dramatic. A 2-set lead, giving away to a giant comeback, only to lead to another switch of momentum. It was a 5 set match that took the viewer through three signifcant changes, all while watching the two best players of a generation play their hearts out. It has been called the greatest match ever played, not just by me, but by columnists and writers as well. To think that their level of physical and mental stamina could be matched the following year would have been unthinkable.

Well not only was their stamina matched, it was exceeded. The 2008 final had major sways in momentum, displaying the sheer fight within the players. The 2009 final was simply an unrelenting slug-fest. The unflinching nature of today's match is something I have never witnessed in tennis. A total of 3 games were broken between the two players. So in a span of a 5-set, 77 game match, only twice until the end was the server not in control. It would have been boring tennis if it weren't for the sheer quality of the service games. Roddick was serving at 140+ mph with a 70% rate. Federer ended up with a staggering 50 aces. On top of those unbelieveable serving statistics, both of them averaged about a 1/2 an unforced error per game. Those stats alone prove that the level of tennis was something rarely seen. And that fifth set! 30 Games in the set alone?! That's an incredible display of stamina, something it had in common with the 2008 final.

But Federer came out on top, much like he has so many times in the past. His record 15 Majors is even more proof of his GOAT status. Even with that, the story of the day was the resurgence of Andy Roddick. Anyone watching the match would come to the conclusion that he outplayed the eventual champ. Like noted, his serve was historic. Along with that, his backhand was dominant and he made very few mistakes. His new style of play is the culmination of potential that Roddick has possessed for almost a decade now. His mental makeup seems to have made the final leap. He was calm, cool, collected, and clutch throughout the match. Whenever he needed a big point he seemingly willed himself to a monster serve or great volley. But Federer is as crafty of a player as there has ever been. Even with being outplayed, he won two tie-breaks and the final break chance of the match. His victory really doesn't take anything away from his opponent though.

Hopefully this Roddick 'breakthrough' is not an abberation. I would love to see a three-way battle for supremacy on the grass and hardcourts for a year or two. With the healthy return of Nadal, the US Open is poised to be the most compelling tournament in recent memory. Federer is certainly at the top of his game. Nadal is the rightful #1, with recent success against Federer on the hard court. And hopefully Andy Roddick will be there to disrupt the dominance of both of them. Here's to that thought.....

Go Away......No Wait!

Brett Favre needs to go away. If he is coming back just to play football again, then why did he leave New York. The truth is that he is coming back just to stick it to the Packers, which might not happen anyways. It's a terrible reason to play football, especially because the Packers supported him through all his ups and downs for how many years? like 13 or something? He hasn't been good for 5 years and will not be good for the rest of his career.

Of course the Vikes and Brett are awfully alike. Favre can't make good decisions anymore, though he still has all the tools for him to be a highly efficient leader of the offense. The Vikings are perpetually a team loaded with talent that is either 1) wildly overpaid for (Hutchinson, Chester Taylor, Jared Allen) or 2) coincidentally falls in their lap by happenstance (Adrian Peterson, the Williams'). Though loaded with athletes, they are just as perpetually marred in mediocrity, mostly because of their apparent allergy to competent coaching staffs. An example of their terrible management is the fact that Brett Favre would be an obvious upgrade at QB despite their previous blind devotion to horrible quarterbacks.

These two are a meant for each other now that I think about it. I would love to see this happen.

Federer's Redemption

As I watched Roger Federer accept his French Open Championship trophy, it is almost impossible not to feel such elation for him.  His cold,  icy demeanor on the court is always shed immediately after a tournament is complete.  Tennis fans have seen his tears many times, though usually they are tears of joy.  Last year at this time, however, they were tears of sadness.  He had been embarassed at the French Open final by Rafael Nadal in a tournament that looked as if he had the ability to finally overcome the player that prevented his Grand Slam.  He openly cried on the court after the match, something that had never been seen previously.  Nadal was seemingly overtaking him as the premiere player in the world, and Roger's time to become a Grand Slam Champion was dwindling.  How someone so obviously emotional can keep his focus during his matches is a mystery.  But he does, and today's Championship match is a perfect example of that.  After being up 2 sets to none, and with only one game in his way to being the champion, Roger was clearly holding his tears back.  After he fought through his emotions and Soderling hit a forehand into the net, Federer fell to the court in tears of elation.  It was a wonderful scene, one that gave me chills when NBC replayed it a few times.  If you missed this touching moment, click on the title of this entry.

His resume is now full of more accomplishments than anyone else in Tennis history.  He is one of six people to complete a career Grand Slam.  He is now tied for the most Majors in history with 14.  He will certainly win at least one more before his career is up.  Of the last 16 majors in tennis, Federer has been in the Finals of 15 of them.  Everyone knows he dominates on grass and hard courts.  Not only those, but in fact Federer is a spectacular clay court player.  He has been to the French Open final for the last four years, though he has only won this most recent visit.  Mary Carillo, an experienced and trusted analyst, stated during this match that she believes he is the third best clay court player of all time: trailing Nadal and Bjorn Borg.  So if he has 13 majors on the big surfaces, at least one major on the clay, and is considered dominant on all surfaces, then one would have to say that he is the greatest tennis player of all time.  Even the great Bjorn Borg, whom any player who faced him considered him the GOAT, was not able to complete the career Grand Slam.  

Of course many people would say that this French Open championship was tainted.  The fact that Nadal was ousted with an apparent knee injury before Federer had to face him is something that will be discussed on sports talk radio (I figured I would pre-empt the talk).  But in reality it doesn't matter.  Injuries and the ability to stay healthy is a major reason why we consider some of the people we do as champions.  Certainly there would be players in any sport that would have hall of fame careers but were de-railed with injuries.  The truth of the matter is that Federer winning the French without having to face Nadal does not taint his accomplishment.  It is part of being a champion...when you have an opening you pounce on it.  You don't always have to be the best person or team, but you always have to take advantage of weaknesses and be the best in certain moments.  He certainly was the best in this tournament, pouncing on his opportunity today.  He looked completely dominant facing the man that knocked out Nadal earlier in the fortnight.  He almost never made mistakes, and his forehand was unstoppable.  When he is in a groove, he seemingly glides to the ball and creates great shots out of defensive positions.  Today was no different.  Winning convincingly in straight sets solidifies his spot as a great clay court player.  He is certainly the greatest tennis player of all time. 

The Cavs and the Cards

Everyone in the world has been talking about the Cavaliers this week. Specifically LeBron James.  I don't really care to comment on the whole 'walking off the court and then not speaking to the press' thing.  He is not a saint, though everyone seems to think so.  That being said, it's not a big deal.  Nothing interesting comes from a losing player in those post-game conferences.

What I do want to talk about is how people are treating the Eastern Conference Finals.  Now that the Magic have advanced, the talk around the dial is that LeBron was let down by his teammates.  I have heard this multiple times, from Anita Marks to Bill Simmons.  This is what I have to say about it:  of course LeBron James is the best player on the Cavs.  He is a freak of nature that can make every player around him better.  His offensive skills are practically endless and he is borderline unstoppable when he is playing well.  The problem with the idea of his team letting him down is that most of them did not play any worse than they did during the regular season.  With the exception of Mo Williams, everyone else played to their potential.  Delonte West was pretty good actually.  Varajao was his usual flopping self.  Big Z was slow on both sides, but was a big body taking up space.  The backups were almost completely ineffective.  All of these things were par for the course when it comes to the regular.  If Mo Williams had played as well as he did during the season, they MIGHT have won an extra game in the series, but I doubt it.  

The truth of the matter is, the main people 'responsible' for the Cavs' lost was Mike Brown and LeBron.  For one, Mike Brown seems to utilize the most vanilla, lethargic offense in the history of the NBA.  He never really adjusted to the fact that their guards are 6 inches shorter than their Magic counterparts.  And when the game was on the line, it seemed like his ability to get the ball in the hand of anyone else but LeBron was absent.  The problem is, the last one might be the King's fault just as much as the head coach's.  No one seems to want to recognize how many mistakes LeBron made this series.  Other than having freakish offensive statistics, he also made a ton of turnovers.  He has improved his passing greatly, but he is not a point guard.  Why was he constantly taking the ball down the court in the 4th quarter?  And when he did, why did he settle for so many terrible jump shots when the referees would have more than likely thrown him a bone anyway if he had driven to the basket?  On top of this, his defense was less than stellar.  I know he had to pace himself or he would not have been able to carry the offense, but he just plain did not play well on that side of the ball.  Like Ric Buecher said, maybe if he had learned how to conserve energy on offense, instead of playing point guard, shooting guard, and small forward, then maybe he could have stretched out his talents a little more.  The team just plain is not very good, and LeBron took it about as far as he could.  But you can't say they let him down, they were never any better than this.

Another thing that people are talking about is the firing of Drew Rosenhaus by Anquan Boldin.  I have loved Boldin for years and consider him a real football player.  This firing is more proof that he just wants to play and the contract talk is not in his interest.  He might want to be traded or get a better contract, but it is not him to make a big fuss about it.  I am happy to see that some players are not going to be insubordinate just because they are not happy with their salary. 

As for the Cardinals...when did they start making the correct decisions?  Sitting on Boldin's contract is the second best thing they have done this offseason.  They resigned Kurt Warner to a respectable contract, which was almost a no-brainer.  Now they are not being sucked into Drew Rosenhaus' games by trading Boldin for less value.  There are two years left on his contract.  They will have the services of a hard-working pro bowl receiver during a period when the team should be able to return back to the Super Bowl.  They were one miraculous catch away from a championship, they certainly could use his talents for the next two years.  Plus, if the 2008 Cardinals end up being a fluke and they revert back to the Cardinals we all know and love, then they still have Boldin on contract for one year to trade away.  Sure, they won't get as much as they would have this offseason, but they would still receive a few draft picks for guy they would not be resigning anyway.  I personally think they will be Championship contenders again this year, and Boldin is one of the reasons for that.