Lockout Blues

One of my favorite films of the past decade is "Charlie Wilson's War." Everytime it is on cable, I get sucked in and can't stop watching it. The main premise of the film is how Congressman Charlie Wilson, played by Tom Hanks, was the main contributor to the United States covert and secret backing of Afghanistan in their attempt to thwart the Soviet Union in the 1980s. Wilson teams up with CIA man Gust Avrakatos, portrayed superbly by Phillip Seymour Hoffman, in this secret war against the Russians. The CIA and American Forces supplied, trained and bolstered the Afghan freedom warriors in an eventual victory over the Soviets. The film was so good that I immediately bought the novelized version. Of course books are always better then the movie, and this case was no different. Unfortunately for the United States, these same Afghan fighters that were trained and supported by us in the fight against the Russians, turned their backs on us and many of those fighters became terrorists and sworn enemies of the United States-including our old nemesis Osama Bin Laden. The quote that sticks out for me in the entire book is when Avrakatos talks about how the United States Government underrated and also bailed on the Afghans, which led to a hotbed of distrust and anger towards our country. As Avrakatos puts it, "We went ahead and fucked up the endgame."

That quote is something that I continue to hear in my head as this NFL lockout continues. Years from now Roger Goodell, John Mara, DeMaurice Smith or even Drew Brees could be making this same statement about the current lockout and its' affect on the NFL brand. It is so frustrating to think that as we approach Memorial Day, the lockout is still going on, and there seems to be no end in sight. The only thing that we can look forward to is the appeals hearing on June 3rd with the 8th Circuit Court. The court will make their decision on whether to lift the lockout or not-at this point all signs look to the NFL winning the appeal, and the lockout continuing. Unfortunately, the judges won't make their ruling until at least the end of June or early July (You gotta love those courts!).

That puts us back at square one. The lockout will still be in effect, and the ball will be in the players court. DeMaurice Smith has not backed off of his rhetoric, and it is very hard to see him leading the players back to the table to get a deal. The players count continue with the litigation route, but those cases won't be heard for many months or even next year. If the players want to play this season like they said they wanted to, then Smith has to move past his ego and get back to the table in July. If he doesn't do that, then the lockout will continue into the season and regular season games will be missed, postponed or cancelled all together. Until there is any substantial news on an agreement, I will be locking myself out of posting. Both sides have already robbed me of the fun of an NFL offseason, and I'm not going to post until there is some real news on this dispute. Until then, I will continue to enjoy the NHL Playoffs, NBA Finals, and whatever cheap reality show I can get my hands on.

Remember what Gust said, "We went ahead and fucked up the endgame." I'm hoping that this quote doesn't come back to haunt the NFL Owners, the Commissioner and more importantly the head of NFLPA, Mr. DeMaurice Smith. We are going to find out this summer if this rings true or not.

Broncos 2011 Draft Review

The Broncos concluded their draft on Friday and Saturday night. Here is a look at the Broncos 2011 Draft class and my thoughts on each selection.

Round 2
(Denver traded back from number 36 overall and picked up San Francisco's fourth and fifth round pick)
-Rahim Moore: Free Safety, UCLA (#45 overall)
-Orlando Franklin: Offensive Tackle, Miami (#46 overall)

Round 3
-Nate Irving: LB, NC State (#67 overall)

Round 4
(Denver traded their fifth round pick to get into the fourth round and ended up with two 4th round selections)
-Quinton Carter: SS, Oklahoma (#108 overall)
-Julius Thomas: TE, Portland State (#129 overall)

Round 6
-Mike Mohamed: LB, California (#189 overall)

Round 7
-Virgil Green: TE, Nevada (#204 overall)
-Jeremy Beal: DE, Oklahoma (#244 overall)

Thoughts and Opinions:
-I obviously did like the Von Miller pick in round 1 because of the impact that Miller can bring.
-I really liked the Rahim Moore pick in the second round because he was the best safety on the board, and Denver desperately needed a new FS. Moore could start from day one, but I also liked how Denver traded back and acquired San Francisco's fourth and fifth round picks, which they didn't have before the draft began.
-I was surprised that Denver took Franklin with their other second round pick. Some sites had him ranked as the 16th best offensive tackle in the draft. I thought Denver could have taken Marvin Austin or Stephen Paea at that point, but they didn't. Hopefully, Franklin comes in and replaces Ryan Harris at RT and produces.
-I was surprised that Denver went linebacker again when they took Nate Irving in round three. I do love the fact that Denver completely revamped their linebacker corps. The LBs have been a weakpoint in Denver since 2006. It looks like Irving could step in a start right away too. If that happens, then this was a great pick.
-I have no problem with Denver taking Carter in the fourth round, but I was hoping they would have addressed their DTs in this round. They didn't and Carter could eventually replace Brian Dawkins at SS, and he could help on special teams.
-I was surprised to see the Broncos trade up and grab Julius Thomas, who is a project at TE. I hope he doesn't turn out to be the second version of Wesley Duke.
-Mike Mohamed in round six adds more LB depth and can help on special teams.
-The Virgil Green pick was applauded by many of the draft experts. I saw some mock drafts that had Green going in the fourth round, so to get him in round seven it was considered a steal. He might end up a better player than Thomas.
-Jeremy Beal was going in the third and fourth round of some other mock drafts, and the fact that Denver got him in the seventh round was a steal. Hopefully, he will make the team and contribute in some way.
-Overall, I hate draft grades, but I would have to say that Denver did well. They add at least 3 and probably four new starters. They totally revamped their LB unit and added some youth to their secondary. I'm happy with most of the picks, and I think this was a nice first draft for the Elway, Fox, and Xanders trio.

Here are my other thoughts and opinions on the rest of the 2011 NFL Draft:
-There is always a shocker in the top 10, and the first shock came when the Titans selected Jake Locker at number eight.
-The buzz was still there for Locker, but it kept going when Jacksonville traded up and took Blaine Gabbert. I thought it was a smart move by the Jags, and you can't win the division with David Garrard. Good job by Jacksonville looking towards the future.
-The buzz was still going when the biggest surprise happened next: The Vikings selecting Christian Ponder at number 12. The response from the crowd was hilarious, and even Jon Gruden got caught shaking his head on ESPN's telecast.
-The first seven picks were not surprising, but as soon as the Titans picked Locker, the draft started to gain some steam.
-The fact that Nick Fairley fell to the middle of the first round is really shocking. Fairley was going in the top three from about December all the way to the end of March. Fairley, Ndamukong Suh and Kyle Vandenbosch pose a nice trio upfront for the Lions in 2011.
-How about Da'quan Bowers falling all the way to the second round? Amazing that a month ago he was considered a top five pick.
-I love the Giants pick of Prince Amukamara at number 19. Not one mock draft dating back to October had him going past 10. You can never have enough corners in today's NFL.
-The Saints made a great move by trading up for Mark Ingram late in the 1st round. They got the best RB in the draft. Is Reggie Bush's days in New Orleans over?
-The Pats needed to get an impact WR or DE and they got neither. Stop blowing smoke up Bill Belichick's ass for the way he manipulates the draft. This was the perfect opportunity for the Pats to trade up and get A.J. Green, Julio Jones, Aldon Smith, or even Robert Quinn. They didn't do that, and I don't think they widened the gap between them and the Jets in the AFC East. Plus, everyone loves the Ryan Mallett pick in round three, but when is he going to contribute?
-The Browns followed the Belichick formula, and recouped a lot of picks, but where is their impact player? Phil Taylor, Jaball Sheard, and Greg Little are nice picks, but none of them is the impact or blue-chip player the Browns desperately need.
-The same teams always draft well and this year was no exception. The Giants got Amukamara and had Marvin Austin fall to them. The Packers nabbed Randal Cobb in round two. The Ravens got Jimmy Smith at the end of round one, and the Steelers got Cameron Heyward in round one. Also, the Eagles did well once again. The same teams do well every year.
-The networks have to stop showing the players on the cell phones before the picks get announced. It ruins the suspense of the announcement of the picks. Just wait until after Roger Goodell announces the picks to show the player's reaction.
-The Draft should be set up as follows: Rounds 1 and 2 on Friday, Rounds 3 and 4 on Saturday, and Rounds 5 through 7 on Sunday.