Weekend Ombudsman: NFL Draft and Boxing

Boxing and football.

Two weekend reflections:

1) The Redskins' Draft. Most people, including TWO, were pleased with the Redskins draft. That does not mean that it was a good draft, it just means that Dan Snyder's plans to ruin the franchise were thwarted and we literally were forced into making a good decision (Brian Orakpo) with our first round pick. Vinny Cerrato's inability to correctly pronounce Orakpo (he kept saying Orapko) at the post-draft press conference at first seems like a funny/harmless slip up until you consider the fact that this man is charged with vigorously and thoroughly researching the minutia of all potential players that could be drafted and thus determine the franchise's future. And Vinny doesn't know the last name of our first round pick?

If that isn't evidence enough of our scant research, consider that the Redskins also selected a LB, Cody Glenn, who had pedestrian stats and was injured/suspended for most of his senior season. When questioned about the reason for the suspension - he lied. Hey - he's an average athlete and injury prone, but at least he's dishonest! In the 7th round, we picked a wide receiver described as having "failed to impress the NFL scouts." Guess which scouts were apparently totally impressed? Vinny & co.

Hail.

2. Carl Froch - Jermaine Taylor. Arguably one of the best fights of the year came and went with very little fanfare because of the NFL draft and NBA & NHL playoff series. Taylor dominated the early part of the fight, knocking down the undefeated Froch for the first time in his career, but Froch came back and scored a TKO with 14 seconds left in the 12th and final round to win. Taylor was ahead on all cards and would have won the fight otherwise. A couple of things. First, people compared the stoppage of the fight to a fight 19 years ago involving a different Taylor. The famous 1990 Meldrick Taylor - Julio Cesar Chavez fight probably shouldn't have been stopped. However, the Froch-Taylor fight was different. TWO, who was rooting for Jermaine Taylor, believes that the fight was correctly stopped as Taylor literally could not defend himself at all -- a defenseless fighter can sustain serious damage in just a few seconds, let alone 14.

Second, Jermaine Taylor is one of those guys who is frustrating to root for. He is similar to Zab Judah, in that he is faster and more talented than almost all of his opponents. Both Judah and Taylor do not have the requisite stamina to do well against top competition in fights that go past 7 rounds. Judah also has serious lapses in concentration and some behavioral issues, which adds to his problems. Taylor, meanwhile, is incredibly likeable which makes it all the more difficult to stomach what appears to be a lack of adequate preparation. If you look at Taylor's losses, he was faster than and should have knocked out Kelly Pavlik in Taylor-Pavlik I and lost a close fight in Taylor-Pavlik II. Taylor was clearly the faster and more powerful boxer through the first half of the Froch fight. Had he not completely collapsed in the 12th round - literally, anything short of a knockout or stoppage - he wins the fight. Zab Judah, meanwhile, has been outclassed by two fighters - Floyd Mayweather and Miguel Cotto (the latter just barely). His four other losses, in TWO's opinion, have been due to failure to adequately prepare or lapses in concentration. Even the Kostya Tszyu fight generally favored Zab, until he took 4 seconds off at the end of the 2nd round, got punched in the mouth and then staggered around jabbering to the referree like a drunk businessman hitting on a flight attendant on a turbulent plane.

What a simile!

In conclusion, Hatton in an upset over Pacquiao this weekend.

NFL Draft Ombudsman: Matt Franchez & Mel Kiper

Every day is an opportunity to make bad decisions.

And that is what its like being a Washington Redskins fan these days. TWO will reflect on the sad state of his favorite team and a quick Mel Kiper musing in his draft preview.

1) The Redskins. It is hard enough to win in this league as it is - you have to deal with injuries, coaching and players moving around - and even the best, most efficiently run teams play close games and lose and sometimes even miss the playoffs. But what if you had an owner who took active steps to worsen your favorite team? Welcome to my world. Being a Redskins fan is like watching a horror movie in a theater where the main character is clearly making a terrible decision that will lead to her bloody death but there is nothing you can do to stop her. Even when the obligatory fat black lady sitting near you says loudly "B*tch you better get out that house!" there is no effect...the script has already been written.

And in the Matt "Franchez" Sanchez sweepstakes, Danny Snyder is that main character clearly making a terrible decision, and all of us are the fat black woman yelling. Again, to be clear, all of us are fat black women. Anyway, the Redskins have at least a serviceable quarterback in Jason Campbell. What they don't have is a starting DE, an OLB, or an OT. When I say we don't have an outside linebacker, I literally mean that the Redskins might start the season off with a wild-eyed and disoriented Vinny Cerrato as a linebacker on our 53 man roster. There are also needs at center and several backup positions.

And yet, with all of our needs, Snyder is looking to do something that will further shake up a team that for the last 4 years has not had a chance to play under the same offensive system. And this goes beyond continuity - this could be a devastatingly bad pick: there is no guarantee that quarterbacks selected towards the top of the draft will be good. This is basic stuff, and Redskins fans are left wondering - is Snyder stupid - does he really think that you can just move pieces around interchangeably like a video game? Does he just like attention? Shouldn't someone who was so successful in their other business ventures have learned something about football over the past 10 years?

There is also a total lack of accountability. Last season, the Redskins traded a 2009 2nd round pick for Jason Taylor, who played about 10 games and then was released. This is not a small deal - essentially, we could have had the 40th best player in college football as a part of our team for a number of years, and instead, now, we have no player. That was the effect of that move. Here is Vinny Cerrato's quote when questioned a couple of days ago: "It is what it is. We made a trade last year with our second-round pick. We wish Jason [Taylor] would have stayed healthy, but it is what it is."

"It is what it is" is a tell-tale sign of being a fool. That is the equivalent of using the defined word in its definition: Q: whats a fool? A: Well, its basically someone who acts like a fool. Q: Vinny - what about trading a 2nd round pick for a guy who played 10 games? Vinny: Well, it is what it is...meaning that its a situation where we traded a 2nd round pick for a guy who played 10 games. "It is what it is" is the sibling of "Thats just Manny being Manny" and is the cousin of "He's just doing his thing" and "He just does what he does." TWO suggests any athlete or commentator using any of these phrases be banned from giving their opinions for one year.

Anyway, expect the Redskins to do whatever they can to mess up their own draft. The same duo that picked 2 wide receivers and a TE in 3 2nd round picks last year (when we had almost no defensive linemen) is totally capable of being toyed with and trading Clinton Portis, all of our first round picks until 2015 and FedEx Field for Matt Sanchez. The Redskins will be playing home games on the Montgomery Mall parking lot in Rockville, Maryland.

2) Mel Kiper. A couple of things to watch from Mel Kiper on draft day:

First, Mel, a man who would be selling elixers out of a covered wagon if this were the 19th century, will claim that he "had him going about there" no matter who is taken in what place. Mel releases so many mock drafts - most of them drastically conflicting, that at some point every player is in nearly every draft slot. Gregg Easterbrook's review from a couple years back (under the "Mel Kiper Watch" heading) sums Mel up perfectly.

Second, and this is related to the first, Mel hates Todd McShay. Watch for palpable anger, and possibly a fistfight, when the two of them spar. Before Todd McShay, Kiper was the only draft guru. He was free to shoot from the hip, because frankly no one (other than Easterbrook that one time) bothered to fact check or keep all of his mock drafts straight. But now, McShay is in there keeping him in line. And Mel hates it. For example, yesterday on Sports Center, Mel Kiper incredibly choose Josh Freeman as both his most likely draft bust AND his most likely draft boom! In years past, no one would have said anything, but McShay called him out and asked him to explain. Mel got flustered, mumbled something about upside and then tried to sell Hannah Storm a magic potion to cure her ailments before they cut to commercial.

In conclusion, at least I have this.