Terrelle Pryor played Michigan and Penn State better than Charlie Daniels plays a fiddle...he stated that he did not make up his mind until that morning...who the fuck is he kidding!!!!...he knew he was going to Ohio State from day one...this was just a game to him and his co-horts and fellow incoming freshmen at Ohio State Michael Brewster and J.B. Shugarts...Shugarts and Brewster have already been popping off even though have yet to play a game for Ohio State...
Pryor announced in February that he wanted to still take his official visit to Penn State and Oregon -- that never happened...just three weeks ago he said that he wanted to visit Michigan once again during Easter break -- that never happened...Pryor is trying to play the innocent role, but he is not fooling anyone...
Speaking of Penn State, all reports indicate there will be a showdown between the university president and Joe Paterno regarding if Paterno will remain the head coach after this season...JoePa's contract ends after the 2008 season...
Stephen Curry of Davidson is the real deal...he put on a show in leading Davidson back against Gonzaga...Curry finished with 40 points, 30 in the second half...
Those were some great upsets with the games played at Tampa...every lowered seeded team won - #12 Villanova, #12 Western Kentucky, #13 San Diego, and #13 Siena...
Thoughts on today's games:
2:10 - Duke -4.5 vs. West Virginia - take the Hillbillies...Duke will win the game, but not by the spot....
4:20 - Wisconsin -4.5 vs. Kansas State - Michael Beasley cannot get into foul trouble early like he did against USC...Wisconsin will probably have their defensive wiz, Flowers, covering the Beaze...upset here - Kansas State wins...
4:40 - Xavier -3 vs. Purdue - this will be a rugged physical game that will go back-and-forth...X wins and covers....
6:40 - Washington State -2.5 vs. Notre Dame - the Irish were impressive in dismantling George Mason...I like Wazzou to win and cover...
6:45 - Stanford -4.5 vs. Marquette - Stanford has impressed me of late...I see the Cardinal winning here...take the chalk...
6:50 - Kansas -13.5 vs. UNLV - UPSET ALERT!!!...I'm going to go out on a limb and say UNLV pulls the upset and beats Kansas straight up....Wink Adams baby!!!...
9:10 - Pitt -4 vs. Michigan State - Sparty is getting four points???....this will be the best game of the day...Pitt wins, but take Sparty with the points...
9:11 - UCLA -10 vs. Texas A&M - Bruins roll....take the chalk....
Today's NFL Draft Spotlight is on Maryland's Dre Moore and Erin Henderson....Moore is listed as one of the top 5 defensive tackles...at 6'4", 311 lbs., he recorded six sacks last season.....Henderson, who is 6'3", 236 lbs, is a top 10 linebacker...Matt Bracken of The Baltimore Sun took the time to respond about both players...I want to thank him for his time....
Q1. In most publications, Dre Moore (photo) is listed as one of the top defensive tackl
es in this year's draft. What are his strengths and weaknesses?
A. Physically, Moore's got all the tools you'd want in a defensive tackle, and more importantly, those tools actually translate into productivity. He's not just a combine specimen. Moore's production increased every year at Maryland, culminating with a senior year in which he had 63 tackles. 8.5 tackles for loss, and 6 sacks - the most any Terp has recorded since Shawne Merriman in '04. Like many defensive tackles, Moore's been known to take a play or two off here and there, so that's probably his most notable weakness. But regardless of that, Moore looks like a solid second-round choice.
Q2. Another Maryland product is linebacker Erin Henderson. What are your thoughts about Henderson? Is he better suited as an inside or outside linebacker?
A. Having rebounded from an ACL tear as a redshirt freshman, and then playing through back spasms, more knee troubles, and a variety of other minor injuries (eye, shoulder, you name it) during this past year, it's safe to say that Henderson is a tough player. Granted, those are more ailments than you'd like to see, but he was really a warrior on the field all year long to play through that pain.
Henderson is just a playmaker, and truly a well-spoken, natural leader. He's a guy that others follow, and certainly someone you'd want on your team. He played the WILL linebacker for Maryland, so putting Henderson inside in a 3-4 defense could be the best fit for him in the NFL. But he's a versatile guy that just makes plays.
Q3. One of the sleepers in the draft could be tight end Joey Haynos. He is listed at 6'8" and is listed as a hard worker. What are your thoughts about Haynos? Can he stick in the NFL?
A. You mentioned Haynos' two best attributes - size and work ethic. Haynos came to Maryland five years ago as a preferred walk-on, choosing the Terps over a basketball scholarship from Campbell (N.C.) University. He added about 40 pounds to his frame over his four and a half years in College Park, and developed into a reliable pass-catching tight end along the way. So work ethic is not a concern with Haynos - he'll do whatever is asked of him. Speed's a bit of a concern with Haynos, having run in the high 4.8s at the combine. But he's a solid blocker with very good hands. It sounds like Haynos will fall in that round 5-7 range. He's got a good shot at sticking with a team as a backup tight end.
If I may shamelessly plug something here, we've been doing an occasional series at BaltimoreSun.com on Haynos leading up to the draft. Haynos
Q4. Who are some other sleeper picks on the Maryland team that we should pay attention to on draft day?
A. This might be a loose interpretation of the word "sleeper," but thanks to offensive guard Andrew Crummey breaking his left fibula twice in the last six months, he fits the bill. Crummey first broke the bone against Georgia Tech in October. He battled back to appear in the Terps' last two regular season games and the Emerald Bowl, but broke the bone again in the East-West Shrine Game in January. When he was healthy near the beginning of the year, there was talk that he'd be a mid-round selection. Now, it's tough to say. Any team that drafts him will probably have to do so with the knowledge that his rookie year will be a wash between rehabbing and learning a system. But he's a solid long-term investment - he's got the tools to be a starting OG in the league a few years down the road.
Other potential Terps sleepers include cornerback Isaiah Gardner, who tested very well at Maryland's Pro Day last week, safety J.J. Justice, who's got great size and really finished his senior season strong, and running back Keon Lattimore, Ray Lewis' younger brother and a powerful inside runner. I'm not sure any of those three will hear their names called on Day 2 of the draft, but they're all worthy of camp invites.
Q5. Who are some of the future NFL prospects that we should pay attention to on the 2008 Maryland team?
A. Darrius Heyward-Bey, a 6-foot-2, 200-pound wide receiver, is already appearing on a selection of NFL Draft sites' 2009 first-round mock drafts. DHB will just be a junior, and his sophomore season was a bit of a disappointment statistically thanks to an initially shaky quarterback situation, but it's tough to ignore his 4.3ish speed. He's the one to watch from an early entry standpoint.
Cornerback Kevin Barnes is a guy I think could develop into a potential round 2-4 selection. He's got excellent cover skills, ideal size, and 4.5 speed. Others to watch include Jaime Thomas, who should be one of the ACC's better offensive guards next year, Dave Philistin, who was very productive in his first year as a starting linebacker last season, Trey Covington, a linebacker/defensive end type that has great strength, overachieving defensive end Jeremy Navarre and reliable wide receiver Isaiah Williams.
Once again, I want to thank Matt for his time....
It's Thursday so that means it is another feature in the series "Beers with Bloggers....today's feature is with Brian from One More Dying Quail....Brian was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and lived in Rye for most of my life...he and his wife now live in Nashua, NH, on the Massachusetts border.....he is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire with a degree in history....currently he is working as a high school paraeducator and a home care provider in southern New Hampshire....
I want to thank Brian for his time....it is much appreciated...
Q1. First off, how did you come up with the name One More Dying Quail?
A. When I started the blog a couple of years ago, it was actually my second foray into the medium - about a month earlier, around June 2006, I created a Fox Sports blog called All The Good Names Are Taken, which was my way of noting that there were seemingly a million blogs out there with GREAT names, which made it hard to come up with something original and meaningful (I think I have since been proven wrong in this belief).
So when I decided to start a Blogger blog (which in my mind was somehow more credible than one at Fox Sports), I decided to try and come up with something more interesting and personal. As you may know, two of my great loves are baseball and movies, so I started looking at some quotes from my favorite films, to see if anything stuck. For awhile, "A Sky So Blue" (from Field of Dreams, if memory serves) seemed like a good idea - until I decided that it was a little TOO sentimental-sounding for my liking. Then, my thoughts turned to Bull Durham and Kevin Costner's great speech near the end, and I almost went with "25 Hits A Year", but it wasn't quite what I wanted.
In the end, I stuck with that speech, in which Costner talks about how small the difference is between hitting .250 and .300, between the minors and the majors - one of the phrases he uses to describe a lucky hit is a "dying quail". The exact wording is, "you get a dying quail, just one more dying quail a week... and you're in Yankee Stadium." To me, that line drove home the point that you can be really, really good at something, but there's still an element of luck in everything that we do. I guess I planned on writing some less than good posts, and hoped one or two of those dying quails would land on the outfield grass.
Q2. You have to be the envy of every blogger in the country. You landed an interview with ESPN's Erin Andrews. Tell us how you did it. Was it a phone interview?
A. I don't know if I'm the envy of every blogger in the country, because it's been five months and I think that interview has sort of faded from people's minds at this point. There's a lot of new Erin Andrews content out there now that sort of overshadows stuff that happened back in October.
Of course, that doesn't mean I don't enjoy telling the story of how I landed it, if only because five years from now it will probably still be the greatest thing that ever happened to my blog. Put it this way: in one day, that interview and the links from it brought me over 37,000 hits; the following three MONTHS netted about 36,000.
Anyway, here's how it happened. Last spring, I wrote a post about Andrews and Tina Cervasio, the Red Sox sideline reporter for NESN the past two seasons. It got linked by Deadspin and The Big Lead, among others, and gave me the most traffic I'd ever had to that point. In September, I decided to see if I could capitalize on that, looked around the Internet, and found Tina's contact information on her Web site. We did an interview in September via email, during which I jokingly suggested that she could introduce me to Erin Andrews. She told me that if I was interested, I should just go ahead and contact her myself, tell her what I was looking for, and hope for the best.
So I found a general PR email for ESPN and did just that. They got back to me within a few days, I sent some questions, and didn't hear from them for a week or two. I emailed back, said I really, really wanted to interview her and would do so via whichever method they wanted. The PR guy emailed me back and said, "She can call you on Tuesday or Thursday - which do you prefer?" I picked Thursday.
She called on Thursday, the day Boston College played Virginia Tech, and absolutely couldn't have been nicer. I think she knew that I wasn't a professional and was very nervous, and took that into account throughout the interview. I've been afraid to pursue anyone else for that reason - I'm not a good interviewer, and there is NO WAY that anyone else could be as nice and understanding as she was.
Q3. How would you describe your blog?
A. A commenter at Awful Announcing once referred to my writing there as "esoteric bullshit." That probably sums up the content of One More Dying Quail as much as anything. I have a great time writing it, but most of my work doesn't exactly appeal to the masses - it just happens to be stuff that interests me personally or catches my attention for whatever reason.
Q4. With the Rockets on an incredible hot streak, Tracy McGrady has moved into the NBA MVP race. Who is your vote for MVP - McGrady, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, or Kevin Garnett? Why?
A. My heart says Garnett - the difference in the Celtics between last year and this year is unbelievable, and I think his attitude is largely to thank - but I'm not sure that any player in the NBA is as vital to his team's success as LeBron is.
Q5. Real quick - who would you rather have announce a college basketball game - Billy Packer or Dick Vitale? Why?
A. I don't watch much college basketball - less this year than ever, in fact - but I have to go with Vitale. He may be loud and obnoxious, but at least he seems to genuinely care about basketball, which is more than can be said for a lot of announcers these days, in any sport.
Q6. When reading your blog, it seems like you have a great knowledge of baseball. If you had to win one baseball game, who would you put on the mound as the starting pitcher and who would you want to manage that game? Here's the catch - the player & manager have to be from the last 15 years. (You can list out some of the pitchers/managers you would consider.)
A. Last fifteen years, huh? I guess that rules out Koufax...
Okay, my pitcher would be the 1997-2003 version of Pedro Martinez (well, except for 2001). He's always been a great competitor, which could very well carry him for another few seasons, but those were the years in which he was virtually unhittable every time he took the mound. His stuff was just incredible.
The manager would be Grady Little...just kidding (I can't believe I even attempted that joke).
Really, the manager would be Terry Francona, partly because his record as a postseason manager is excellent (if that even means anything) and partly because I think he would have the brains to pull Martinez if things got tough.
Q7. If you had a vote for the Baseball Hall of Fame, would you vote in Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, and/or Sammy Sosa? Your thoughts.
A. I think so. We mythologize the Hall of Fame and treat it as this sacred shrine, which is nice and all, but the truth is that the guys and gal who are enshrined there are just as human as the rest of us. I would probably take that into account when casting my vote.
Still, I'm not sure we can expect any of the three to make it on the first couple of ballots. As I've argued in the case of Mark McGwire, the fifteen year limit was practically created for issues like this. Look at it this way: we have five years to think about those three guys you named (assuming none of them play in 2008), then fifteen years after THAT to consider their cases. It really allows us the opportunity to let history judge a player.
Q8. I have to ask a non-sports question - Obama, Clinton, or McCain? Why?
A. Obama. I like the idea of having a president who isn't your typical Washington lifer. True, he lacks experience, but that can be somewhat remedied by surrounding himself with more experienced voices who can play an important role in the decision-making process.
My second choice at this point would probably be McCain. Regardless of who gets the Democratic nomination, however, plan on revisiting my position again this summer, just to make sure I'm making the most informed choice.
Q9. Who are the five hottest women in sports and/or broadcasting?
A. Erin Andrews. Maria Sharapova. Kerri Walsh. Serena Williams. Jeannette Lee.
Q10. Last question, this segment is called "Beers with Bloggers." So what are some of your favorite brews? What are some beers that you like that may not be well known nationally?
A. My tastes are pretty standard - Bud Light or Coors Light, if anything.
Thanks again to Brian...and I encourage everyone to bookmark his blog...it is worth it!!!...
I have done my studying, my analyzing, and my reviewing....and I say. "Screw Off Joe Lunardi, my bracket is just as good as yours, Mr. Bracketology!!!!"....here we go...
East Region
First/Second Round Thoughts - Watch Indiana...the talent is there for them to beat Arkansas and North Carolina...but will the players finally get over Kelvin Sampson?...St. Joe's over Oklahoma in the first round...
Sweet 16 Games
North Carolina over Washington State - UNC has an easy win here...
Tennessee over Louisville - this will be the best game of the entire tournament...
Elite Eight
Tennessee over North Carolina - Carolina will be a fierce team to beat...Hansbrough will play possessed, but the Vols have speed...
Midwest Region
First/Second Round Thoughts - Remember the name Wink Adams from UNLV...I watched him torch BYU in the Mountain West title game...Davidson should beat Gonzaga...then I see Davidson having Georgetown beat in the second round, only to choke at the end and lose by 1-3 points...
Sweet 16 Games
Kansas over Clemson - Clemson is a rugged bunch, but they are awful at the free throw line...
Georgetown over Wisconsin - Wisconsin plays solid basketball but Georgetown has more speed...
Elite Eight
Georgetown over Kansas - Bill Self will not be able to get the monkey off his back of getting the Jayhawks to the Final Four...
South Region
First/Second Round Thoughts - there is the dreaded 5-12 matchup...I see Temple dumping Michigan State...the Spartans have not impressed me this year...I also have St. Mary's over The U...
Sweet 16 Games
Memphis over Pitt - I love Pitt, but I feel Memphis is destined for San Antonio...
Stanford over Texas - the Lopez twins are too much to handle...
Elite Eight
Memphis over Stanford - Memphis is destined to make the Final Four...
West Region
First/Second Round Thoughts - I see Drake having a difficult time with Western Kentucky but then beating U.Conn easily in round two...Georgia was a nice story last week, but Xavier ends that lovefest...
Sweet 16 Games
UCLA over Drake - Drake will give the Bruins a good game, but UCLA is too powerful...
Xavier over Duke - Duke is over-rated!!!...Xavier controls the game and wins...
Elite Eight
UCLA over Xavier - Xavier is a veteran club who will make a good run...but I love Love and Collison...
Final Four
Tennessee over Georgetown - Hibbard flops again in the Final Four...
UCLA over Memphis - the poor free throw shooting finally catches up with the Tigers...
NCAA Title Game
Tennessee over UCLA - honestly, I do like UCLA to win it all, but I said back in November that Tennessee was going to win the title....so I am not going to back off that prediction....
Today's NFL Draft Spotlight is on Penn State's Dan Connor and Justin King....Connor is a 6'3", 233 lb. linebacker while King is a 6'0", 186 lb. corner.....Jeff Rice of the State College Centre Daily took the time to respond about Connor and King....his time is greatly appreciated...
Q1. Dan Connor is Penn State's latest linebacking stud. How does he compare to last year's stud in Paul Posluszny? 
Who was better prepared for the NFL - Connor or Pos?
A. Connor (photo) and Posluszny were very similar players in college — both have great instincts, take good angles to the ball and finish off plays. Connor might be a little faster and thus a bit better in pass coverage, but both were as prepared for the NFL as you’ll find in a college player.
Q2. What areas must Connor improve upon in order to be a force in the NFL?
A. Even though Connor will probably play outside, I think he needs to add a little weight — he was listed at 235 pounds going into his senior season but probably finished the year around 230, which isn’t huge for a guy who is a legit 6-foot-2. He worked a lot on his pass rushing last season but probably needs a few more techniques to get past NFL tight ends, fullbacks and tackles, since he’s not going to do it with explosion.
Q3. Cornerback Justin King left a year early. What are your thoughts about that? Should King have stayed another year at Penn State or is he ready for the NFL?
A. I think King is as ready for the NFL now as he will ever be. He played significant minutes since his freshman season, he has good technique and great speed. He needs to add strength and size and improve his tackling, but it’s probably easier for him to bulk up as a pro anyway.
Q4. King has had some off-the-field issues. What are your thoughts about King and his maturity level?
A. King’s off-field issues were overblown — he’s not a troublemaker. He was mature enough to enroll early as a freshman and earn his degree in just three years. He’s always handled himself pretty well with the press, and his coaches liked his attitude and approach.
Q5. Who are some future NFL prospects that we should pay attention to on the 2008 Penn State team?
A. Sean Lee will be another Connor/Posluszny. Derrick Williams could wind up as a return specialist or third receiver for someone, and offensive linemen A.Q. Shipley and Rich Ohrnberger could be second-day picks or free agent signees.
Once again, I want to thank Jeff for his time...
Today's NFL Draft Spotlight is on Indiana wide receiver James Hardy....he is listed at 6'7", 220 lbs....last season, Hardy caught 79 passes for 1,125 yards and 16 touchdowns....he scored 36 touchdowns in his 3 years at IU....
Terry Hutchens of the Indianapolis Star was kind enough to take some time from his busy schedule of covering the Big Ten basketball tournament to respond...it is appreciated...
Q1. In most publications, James Hardy is listed as one of the top 10 receivers in this year's NFL draft. Many novice fans were not aware of Hardy's talents until now. Why was he so overlooked during the football season?
A. Bottom line is that Hardy played at Indiana, and with relatively few national television opportunties, a player can easily get lost at a school like Indiana. Hardy put up big numbers at Indiana. I think the biggest is that he had 36 touchdown catches in 32 regular season games. That's pretty impressive. He also averaged more than 60 catches a season for his three years of college football and nearly 900 yards per season. But when you're playing in a conference like the Big Ten, you just know that the guys at Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State and places like that are going to get a lot more notoriety that a player who plays at IU. It's just the way it is.
Q2. What type of person is James Hardy off the field?
A. I think coming into college, Hardy had some character issues and he had one off-the-field incident involving his girlfriend in May of 2006 as well. But with the help of late IU football coach Terry Hoeppner, who was clearly a father figure to Hardy, this young man just really grew up in front of people's eyes. To see his maturity level and to hear him speak throughout his senior season, he just seemed like a different kid. I think in a few years time, Hardy went from a questionable character kid to a high character individual.
Q3. What current NFL player is Hardy comparable to?
A. People mention Plaxico Burress but it's hard to compare him. He has great size and that will always be the thing that stands out about Hardy.
Q4. What are Hardy's strengths and weaknesses?
A. Hardy has excellent hands and is capable of making the acrobatic play. His size (he's 6-7) also is a strength and he knows how to use his body to his advantage. He doesn't have burner speed and that may cause him to slip a little bit on a few NFL draft boards. But I think there's a lot of potential upside with Hardy.
This is a kid who came to Indiana on a football scholarship but was second in the voting from Mr. Basketball in the state of Indiana and came to IU with the intention of playing both. But basketball was always his primary love and most thought he would play football a year or two and then just concentrate on hoops. But he had some good early football success and then everything changed. But he really has only been playing organized football for less than five years and a lot of people see him as just coming into his own in terms of the things he can do on the football field.
Q5. Who are some of the future NFL prospects that we should pay attention to on the 2008 IU team?
A. Kellen Lewis, a dual threat quarterback, is someone to keep an eye on. He's a redshirt junior but people have made comparisons to Antwaan Randle El in terms of Lewis's game. Marcus Thigpen is a tailback with 4.29 speed. He could play at the next level as a kick returner possibly. Greg Middleton is a junior who had 16 quarterback sacks as a sophomore and is clearly someone to keep an eye on.
Once again, I would like to thank Terry for his time...
Today may be Selection Sunday for the NCAA, but the biggest basketball game of the day takes place in Houston as the Rockets put their 21 game win streak on the line against the Los Angeles Lakers
Houston ChronicleLos Angeles Times NBA beat writer Mark Heisler writes the Houston Rockets may be the most modest 21 game win streak team ever... "The mere number 21 doesn't begin to capture what the Rockets have done. After winning 13 in a row, their world seemed to end Feb. 25 when they lost Yao Ming for the season -- after which they went out and tacked on another eight wins. They're now second only to the 1971-72 Lakers, who had a 33-game streak, which is expected to stand forever -- assuming this isn't a mass hallucination and it falls next." ... Mark HeislerCharlotte Observer sports columnist Tom Sorensen writes how UNC's Tyler Hansborough may not be the most talented player in college basketball, but he may be the hardest worker... "We also won't see another player who reminds us of North Carolina junior Tyler Hansbrough. Unlike the others, he has yet to put on a dazzling move. But he works. He works harder than any player I have ever seen at any level of the sport." ... Tom SorensenChicago Sun-Times sports columnist writes tha Illinois' run in the Big 10 tourney is not that big of a deal... "No, Illinois should not be glorifying its mediocre march through Midwestern mush as some sort of historic rally. This is about a struggling, 10th-seeded flop becoming a decent team in a tourney panned nationwide as an aesthetic crash." ... Jay MariottiBoston Globe sports columnist writes about his scouting trek with former Boston Celtic Dave Cowens... "The year was 1979 and the coach was Dave Cowens. The big difference between that trip and the one that Riley is scheduled to take was that Cowens only arranged to miss practices, not games. But it was an honest-to-God scouting jaunt, all right." ... Bob RyanNew York Daily News sports columnist Mike Lupica "shoots from the lip" about the new Yankees... "For better or worse - and only the season will give us the answer to that one - the Yankees are Joe Girardi's now." ... Mike LupicaNew York Times sports columnist George Vecsey writes about Roger Clemens and his link with a 9/11 family... "The family also found a photograph of Kevin with Clemens, two sturdy guys, smiling for the camera. Kevin ran into Clemens at a barbecue place in Manhattan in 1999, and they chatted for 15 minutes." ... George VecseyDallas Morning News sports reporter Brad Townsend writes how Jason Kidd has returned to the Mavs as a wiser player... "Many athletes would regard three hours of videotaping, still photos and interviews as drudgery. But even during off-camera moments, Kidd was engaging, patient. Since his return to the franchise that drafted him in 1994 and traded him three years later, there has been an air of contentment about him." ... Brad Townsend
